Quick Tips

You know these people. They are out there in the world, in your school, in your place of business … some may even be in your home.

They are Trader Joe’s fanatics, and they WILL. NOT. SHUT. UP.

Check out the sketch above by Dollar Pizza to see a p…

Ben’s Chili Bowl is basically one giant ode to meat. It smells like meat. Meat on the grill is the first thing you see when you walk on the door. Hell, it’s the home of the half-smoke. So it might seem a little strange that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—whose motto contains the […]

By Rachael Rettner, Senior Writer
Published: 07/30/2014 08:41 AM EDT on LiveScience

French toast served with butter syrup and bacon, a platter of fried seafood and hush puppies, and a cheesecake made with Reese’s peanut butter cups and fudge are among the meals singled out this year for their shockingly unhealthy nutrition content in a new report from a nonprofit watchdog group.

Nine meals from American chain restaurants were selected for the 2014 Xtreme Eating Awards, a list released yearly by the Center for Science in the Public Interest as a way to highlight meals that are very high in calories, saturated fat, sodium and sugar.

Nearly all the meals on this year’s list have at least 2,000 calories, and a few top 3,000 calories. “You could take half home and still overeat,” the CSPI says.

Three of the meals on the list are from the Cheesecake Factory, including the restaurant’s Bruléed French Toast, which consists of custard-soaked bread, powdered sugar, maple-butter syrup and bacon, and contains more than 2,700 calories, CSPI says. The meal also has 93 grams of saturated fat, which is nearly five days’ worth, CSPI says. It would take seven hours of swimming laps to burn this meal off, the group says. [9 Snack Foods: Healthy or Not?]

Other “winners” include:

• A meal from Red Robin Gourmet Burgers that includes the A.1. Peppercorn burger (with bacon), a “Monster” Salted Caramel Milkshake and an order of steak fries, which contains 3,540 calories — the most of any meal on the list. That meal also contains 69 grams of saturated fat and 6,280 milligrams of sodium. You would need to take a brisk 12-hour walk to burn it off.
• The Big “Hook” Up platter from Joe’s Crab Shack, which comes with seafood and crab balls with cream cheese, jalapeños and panko breadcrumbs, beer-battered fish and chips, two kinds of shrimp, and hush puppies (fried cornmeal batter). The meal contains 3,280 calories, 50 grams of saturated fat, and 7,610 milligrams of sodium, and would take 11 hours of golf (without a caddie) to burn off, CSPI says.
• The Signature Deep Dish Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza from BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse — the size small (9 inches) has 2,160 calories and is about the same as eating three Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pepperoni Pizzas, CSPI says. You would need to bike for 5.5 hours to burn this meal off, the group says.
• The Cheesecake Factory’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake, which contains the famous peanut butter cups along with fudge cake and caramel, and has 1,500 calories, CSPI says. It would take a 4.5-hour aerobic session to burn it off, the group says.
• The Prime New York Steak, Contadina style from Maggiano’s Little Italy, which comes with a steak and two Italian sausage links, and contains 2,420 calories. It would take 7.5 hours on a rowing machine to burn it off, CSPI says.

“When French toast is ‘Bruléed,’ fries are ‘bottomless,’ and steaks are now garnished with not just one, but two Italian sausages, it’s clear that caloric extremism still rules the roost at many of America’s chain restaurants,” said Paige Einstein, a dietitian at CSPI.

To help people avoid overeating while dining out, CSPI recommends the following, when possible: Order from the lower-calorie menu if one is offered; take home half of a regular meal; order alternative sides, such as steamed broccoli, in place of fries; order a burger with lettuce in place of the bun; order a thin-crust pizza instead of a deep-dish pizza; for Mexican dishes, order items à la carte instead of as a combo meal; and ask for no chips.

Follow Rachael Rettner @RachaelRettner. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.

• 9 Meal Schedules: When to Eat to Lose Weight
• 7 Foods Your Heart Will Hate
• 5 Foods That Face Changes with Trans Fat Ban

Copyright 2014 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ]]>

We love our greasy fast food. And we love talented, knowledgeable chefs who make the exact opposite of greasy fast food. But recently we found ourselves asking an all-important question: do said chefs eat fast food? And we needed answers (with a side of fries).

So we rounded up a bunch of well-known chefs to find out what they thought to be the finest fast-food establishments and delicacies. We asked them for their favorite chain, what they order, and why. From classic choices like Mickey D’s to regional rival In-N-Out, their answers may shock you… mainly because it turns out that, yes, the guys who make your $75 entree aren’t above a $1 cheeseburger.

JUSTIN WARNER
CHEF, DO OR DINE (address and info) , Brooklyn, NY
Favorite fast-food chain: Wendy’s
What he orders: Frosty & Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger
“First off, Frosties are insanely good. Neither soft-serve nor milkshake, they exist in a chocolaty, textural limbo that commands my consumption.

“Next, JBC. When my girlfriend and I take road trips this is what we eat. It’s a buck… and has been a buck since gas was a buck a gallon, and you can also eat about five of them and not want to die, which is my real test of quality fast food. It’s not the Smoke Shack from Shake Shack, but the JBC will always have a spot in my bacon-clogged heart.”

More: Who makes the best fast food cheeseburger?

Credit: Taco Bell

KENT RATHBUN
OWNER, ABACUS (address and info) & JASPER’S (address and info), Various locations, TX
Favorite fast-food chain: Taco Bell or Popeyes
What he orders: Hard & Soft Taco Supreme with extra spicy sauce or Spicy Fried Chicken with dirty rice and a biscuit
“Taco Bell makes everything to order, which is just the way I like it. I love the flavor of Popeyes. It is as good as any other fried chicken that is out there.”

PERRY HENDRIX
CHEF DE CUISINE, AVEC (address and info), Chicago, IL
Favorite fast-food chain: Chipotle
What he orders: Pork burrito
“My kid loves it, and, when traveling, we’re all happy eating there. It’s pretty tasty, and I feel good about supporting their environmental and ethical practices.”

DAVID POSEY
CHEF DE CUISINE, BLACKBIRD (address and info), Chicago, IL
Favorite fast-food chain: In-N-Out
What he orders: A Double-Double Animal-Style with well-done fries and a half Coke/half Diet Coke
“As an LA native, I grew up on In-N-Out Burger. The hamburger is delicious: exactly what I think a fast-food burger should taste like. I get the fries well-done because I like them crispy. It’s pure nostalgia, because I grew up on it.”

See where Charlie Palmer, Dale Talde, Paul Qui, and more chefs like to eat fast-food — all on Thrillist.com!

More from Thrillist:

The single best item at every US fast-food chain

6 things you should absolutely not eat while hungover

Follow Thrillist on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Thrillist

D.C.’s 15 signature dishes [Thrillist] Your “craft” rye whiskey is probably from a factory distillery in Indiana. [Daily Beast] What really makes a good value in restaurants? [Post] People are stealing Dacha’s beer boots and bringing them to other bars. [Eater] Rogue 24 will go a la carte. [Washingtonian] Izakaya Seki will celebrate its anniversary […]

If you were asked to name a superfood, we’re betting you might say quinoa. And if you were to rattle off a few more, you might mention goji berries, chia seeds or if it was 2009, acai.

The term “superfood” is as overused as its meaning, nutritional p…